DT 30733 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 30733

by Huntsman  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30733
Hints and tips by Huntsman

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty */**  Enjoyment ***

Thanks again to Senf for covering last week. Today we have another reasonably straightforward puzzle, presumably off the AP production line, that shouldn’t cause too many problems. As ever tightly clued & with a nice mixture of clue types. For any looking for further puzzling fun Chalicea has an excellent Toughie that comes with the added bonus of ALP’s review & music choices.

Another miserable looking day here in Harpenden so I think I’ll swerve golf & have a good walk instead.

In the following hints, definitions are underlined, indicators are mostly in parentheses, and answers are revealed by clicking where shown as usual. Please leave a comment below on how you got on with the puzzle.

Across

1a Much obliged about nails for carpets (7)

ATTACKS: reverse (about) an informal term for much obliged & append types of nails. Nowt to do with Axminster.

5a Changes into suits (7)

BECOMES: double definition.

9a Scowl from short, vacuous woman (5)

FROWN: use FROm in the clue (short) + WomaN (vacuous).

10a Take out spaniel – I’m in a temper somewhat (9)

ELIMINATE: hidden (somewhat) between definition & indicator.

11a Play rough, trapping dad, perhaps, by all accounts (10)

APPARENTLY: insert (trapping) what dad along with mum is into an anagram (rough) of PLAY.

12a The wild US president (4)

BUSH: double definition.

14a Large mammal’s at this spot, we’re told, for a plant (9-3)

ELEPHANT’S EAR: large mammals  followed by a homophone (were told) of an adverb meaning at this spot.

18a Unusual virus – see it in places of learning (12)

UNIVERSITIES: an anagram (unusual) of VIRUS SEE IT IN.

21a Refrain from eating lard, maybe keeping small (4)

FAST: insert (keeping) the single letter for Small into what the substance, rendered & clarified for use in cooking, is.

22a Wrestling drunk turns giggly, almost (10)

STRUGGLING: an anagram (drunk/almost) of TURNS GIGGLy.

25a Spiritual resistance by priest good with debts? (9)

RELIGIOUS: link together the letter for Resistance (Ohm’s law), an Israelite priest, the single letter for Good & the usual for debts.

26a So hot in French church (5)

HENCE: the single letter for Hot + the French preposition for in + an abbreviation for church.

27a Doctor interferes, removing male’s bandages (7)

DRESSES: the usual abbreviation for doctors + a synonym for interferes with the single letter for Male removed.

28a What fisherman did after knot finally formed a twisted mess (7)

TANGLED: what the fisherman did is preceded by the last letter (finally) of knoT.

 

Down

1d Encounter two females cutting a fish (6)

AFFRAY: insert the single letter for Female twice between A from the clue & a flat-bodied batoid fish. The definition synonym wouldn’t have been the first to spring to mind (mine anyway) but it’s listed.

2d Walks over in harbour, going north then south (6)

TROOPS: insert the single letter in cricket for Over into a reversal (going north/down clue) of a synonym for harbour then append S(outh).

3d Limited scam provoked controversy online (10)

CONTROLLED: a synonym for scam + an activity that provoked upset online.

4d Oddly setter is no mug (5)

STEIN: found in alternate letters (oddly) between indicator & definition.

5d Wife leaves bust in twill bra? Fantastic (9)

BRILLIANT: an anagram of IN TwILL BRA (Wife leaves).

6d Hit Charlie on cheek (4)

CLIP: the letter Charlie represents in the NATO phonetic alphabet + a synonym for cheek as in insolence.

7d Drink outside certainly considered (8)

MEASURED: a synonym for certainly placed within (outside) honey wine.

8d Watch over the woman putting pressure on her daughter (8)

SHEPHERD: some more lego – link the pronoun for the woman, the single letter for Pressure, HER in the wordplay & the single letter for Daughter.

13d Cook sent gran out of area, holding the beef up (10)

STRENGTHEN: an anagram (cook) of SENT GRaN (Area out) with THE from the clue inserted (holding).

15d Arranges appointments (9)

POSITIONS: another double definition.

16d Foul feud ref’s put up with (8)

SUFFERED: an anagram (foul) of FEUD REFS.

17d Wind up detectives on crack (8)

DISSOLVE: the usual abbreviation for detectives + a synonym for crack or figure it out.

19d Initially, snooker international gets nowhere with a large cue (6)

SIGNAL: nowt to do with the green baize – the first letter (initially) of the four words in the wordplay that follow the indicator + A in the clue & the single letter for Large. Neat surface.

20d Confessed a sin (6)

AGREED: A from the clue + one of seven deadly ones – conveniently ignored yesterday in my encounter with a pack of Jaffa cakes or maybe that was gluttony.

23d At college, class gets disturbed (5)

UPSET: a rather old fashioned term for being at college (the reverse in Brideshead is where Sebastian Flyte is sent down from Oxford) + a synonym for class.

24d Young male servants scrubbing quietly for a long time (4)

AGES: remove (scrubbing) the musical letter for soft or quietly from the front of a young male servants.

 

19d would be my pick of clues today with 8&23d nabbing the other podium spots. Please let us know which clues you liked best.

 

Given the news that Kris Kristofferson has passed away I’ll leave you with the song that gave the name to the country music supergroup he joined with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson – only Willie is left now but he’s still doing his stuff

 

 

Today’s Quickie crossword pun: TIE + ERR + DOUBT = TIRED OUT

 

 

 

60 comments on “DT 30733”

  1. Another delightful puzzle today. Slightly tougher than yesterday’s but doable if the instructions in the clues are followed. The Lego clue at 8d gave a lovely penny drop moment. I can’t see the parsing of 20d but nothing else fitted the checkers. I will need to look at the hints for an explanation. Took me a while to get the drink in 7d but it arrived once 5a fell. My COTD for the simple reason it made my smile is the twill bra at 5d.

    Thank you, setter (Mr. A. Plumb?) for the fun. Thank you, Hintsman for the hunts.

    1. I tried listening to one of the musical offerings, and I’m no longer a “bot”! So far, so good.

  2. For me, etc, another Typically Tuesdayish puzzle from Anthony Plumb perhaps as challenging as he ever gets – **/****

    Candidates for favourite – 21a, 7d, 8d, and 24d – and the winner is 8d.

    Thanks to Mr Plumb and Huntsman.

  3. For me, another Mondayish puzzle, with a lovely mix of clues leading to an enjoyable solve. Podium places for the lego clues at 25a and 8d, while the two 4 letter ones at 21a and 24d can squeeze onto the final dais. Thanks to Mr Plumb and Huntsman. I didn’t need your help but I did like your choice of music.

  5. An enjoyable and well-crafted Tuesday challenge, if slightly heavy on the anagram count; a fraction of a step-up in difficulty from yesterday – nicely judged by the Ed. Podium to 21a, 28a & 1d, with a special mention to the amusing 5d which sounded rather uncomfortable, if my various twill trousers are anything to go by, though my twill shirts are much softer!

    Many thanks to Setter & Huntsman

  6. Well, that was most agreeable. An enjoyable solve.
    “Oh come on! We know you by now. You’re just saying that because for once you completed a crossword without help.”
    That’s certainly true, but…
    “No buts, pal. Usually you need advice for ‘domestic pet (3) c-t.”
    That’s a bit excessive, bordering on rude!
    “Look, I’m your inner voice. That’s my role.”

    Thanks to the setter and Andy On The First Tee.

  7. This was a tad tougher than the prof’s usual offering, taking me into the next time zone.

    All fairly clued on a friendly grid. 14a is duly noted and I biffed 20d as I can’t see how confessed can mean the answer. Can anyone give me an example?

    My podium is 18a, 26a and 8d.

    Many thanks to the aforementioned and Hoots Mon!

    3*/3*

      1. Ah, okay.

        Though I would say ‘I *****, Tom’ not ‘I ***** you are correct, Tom’

        I think your example is close enough for me to be a happy camper.

        Thx, MG.

      2. Thanks, Mustafa — I couldn’t see that one, either. And thank you Tom for asking, thereby saving me from having to do so!

  8. A very enjoyable solve. If it truly be an AP production our wavelengths coincided nicely today. My podium comprises 10a, 8d and 14a in top spot as I like elephants. Thanks to AP and Huntsman

  9. I agree with the majority above, another great puzzle, slightly harder than yesterday
    2*/5*
    1d my LOI and COTD. 18a and 3d on the podium
    Thanks to all

  10. 1*/4*. Nice and light for a Tuesday. To use Terence’s words – most agreeable.

    My favourite is a toss up between 1d & 8d.

    Many thanks to AP and to Hintsman. Great to hear Highwayman again; four great artists singing a song written by the wonderful Jimmy Webb.

  11. An excellent Tuesday outing with smooth surfaces throughout – thanks to the setter and Huntsman.
    My ticks went to 5a, 9a, 3d and 17d.

  12. Another good puzzle today. LOI was 1d as it took me an age to parse 9a which I knew has to be right as it supplied one of the females for 1d.
    14a brought a smile as did others.
    Top picks for me were 5a, 14a, 13d and 21a.

    Thanks to Huntsman and the setter.

    1. I think you’re being generous re 14a. The last 3 letters are not really a homophone, are they?

  13. A lovely, pleasantly straightforward puzzle to cheer up a miserable morning weatherwise, with the popular piece of lego at 8d my favourite.

    Many thanks to our Tuesday setter and The Hintsman.

    I agree with our blogger that the Chalicea Toughie is typically enjoyable and accessible.

  14. A lovely Tuesday crossword and proof that a puzzle doesn’t have to be difficult to be enjoyable.
    Ticks from me for 1a, 5a, 9a, 12a, 22a, 26a, 27a, 5d, 7d, 16d & 19d.
    Great stuff.
    Thanks to setter and Huntsman.

  15. This was mostly pretty gentle, though there were a few at the end where I resorted to electronic assistance based on the crossing letters. I’m ignorant of the 14a plant, but having got the second word from “at this spot, we’re told”, there was one obvious large mammal with that distinctive body part that somebody might have named a plant after. Thank you, Huntsman, for the photo showing what it looks like.

    I understand all the components of 13d, but I can’t quite get the grammar to work for “out of”. It’s performing the function of “without”, and I appreciate it can mean something is missing, as in “We’re out of milk”. But I don’t see how that fits in with the surrounding sentence, which has the form “Cook these ingredients without salt.” But “Cook these ingredients out of salt” isn’t an alternative which means the same thing. Anybody able to explain what I’m missing?

    1a is my favourite, for the definition. Thank you to the setter.

    1. S, 13d. I reckon this is just a case of a setter using a bit of mild grammatical jiggery-pokery, as they do quite often. In a cryptic clue, “out of area” can easily mean “Area out” – or ditch the abbreviation for A(rea). Your example is a slightly different context, not being in the rather surreal confines of a cryptic clue. On being informed of a deficiency in the seasoning department the frustrated cook might retort: “So, I’ll cook these ingredients out of salt or not, then!”. :-)

      1. Thanks, Jose. That makes sense, I suppose. “Cook” has to be an imperative for the cryptic instructions, but your example still works if tweaked so the chef were commanding an underlying.

        1. I assume you mean “underling”. The misdirectional surface does have a “cookery” theme which I read to mean: the cook has sent gran out of the area (to obtain some beef) and that is “holding the beef up” because she’s fetching it from far afield. For the cryptic wordplay “cook” is simply an anagram indicator.

          1. Ah, yes, underling! Ooops.

            Or gran has been sent out to continue the argument? Anyway, the surface is fine!

            Yes, ‘cook’ has to be the anagram indicator, and it only works grammatically as a command, so everything else has to fit in with that.

  16. I could not get going in the North West so skipped that, and proceeded at a good pace through the rest of the puzzle before returning to the trouble spot. I eventually cracked 3D and the rest of the quadrant fell into place although like others, the 1D synonym didn’t work for me. The same goes for 20D.

    **/*** No particular favourite today. Thanks to the setter and Huntsman.

    Off to Kefalonia early doors tomorrow, so my puzzling will be at the mercy of the iffy WiFi for 2 weeks.

  17. Another in the long line of very enjoyable puzzles from the professor. Hotly contested race for first place but eventually the nod went to 8d which conjured up all manner of scenes from my daughters’ younger years!

    Thanks to Mr Plumb and to Huntsman for the review – enjoy your walk.

  18. Fun on Tuesday if somewhat more demanding than usual. NW last to join the solutions. Presume 14a is aimed at cockneys! Like our hinter I feel that 1d not really synonymous and agree with SC and Tom in questioning 20d which doesn’t really mean confessed (acknowledged perhaps). Thank you MrP and Hintsman.

  19. No real problems today enjoyable and straightforward.
    Last ones in were 1a and 1d, the former very clever, but COTD 9a – excellent

    Thanks to all

  20. Nice puzzle today.
    Enjoyed it.

    Thanks to the setter and to Huntsman.

    Under the weather here with a skin infection…..antibiotics to be taken 4 times a day either 2 hours after or 1 hour before food. We’ve had to make a spreadsheet .

    2. Feel better soon. You definitely need a spreadsheet for some antibiotics as they can be difficult to schedule per the instructions. Plus they sometimes come with a list of things you cannot eat or drink. But I hope they work and then it is all worth it.

  21. Hope your medication works swiftly Ora. I spent five hours in The Rosie yesterday and still have to go back in on the 14th! Such a bore. Unlike this guzzle which was just sufficiently challenging to be a satisfying solve. And we liked the quickie pun. I liked the idea of a wild US President. I think I’ ll go for 1a as being simple but clever. Many thanks to Messrs Setter & Hintsman – you are not that far away from me – I do hope you have a large waterproof coat and gumboots. Or maybe you are sitting in the clubhouse glumly watching the rain. Yuk.

    1. Hasn’t stopped raining here either – I’ve got no further than just outside of the covered front door for a crafty 🚬

  22. A gentle and straightforward solve. I only knew 14a from a previous crossword. Thanks to setter and to Huntsman. Maybe I ll give the toughie a go later.

  23. For me this week a Typical Tuesday sort of puzzle for the most part. a couple of parsing issues, but will figure them out with hints.

    1.5*/3.5*

    Favourites 5a, 22a, 5d, 8d & 19d — with winner 5d

    Thanks to AP & Huntsman

  24. That was a cracker. Very Tuesday. Loads to like and super-smooth. 18a’s a lovely spot, 13d’s a snorter and 5d’s a real smiler. Many thanks to our setter and Huntsman. Banging tunes, as ever, chief. Oh, I’m SO glad you mentioned Kristofferson. I did try to shoehorn one of his into t’other place but failed miserably!

  25. All was going well until the top left corner when it all went horribly wrong and had to rub it all out and start again.
    The second attempt worked!
    Even though I know a fair number of plants I’ve never heard of 14a but it was obviously right.
    I would associate 12a with Australian ‘wild’.
    I liked 22 and 26a and 6 and 7d. My favourite was 5d.
    With thanks to whoever set todays setter and to the Hintsman.

  26. Finished this morning before going out and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a bit trickier than some other weeks but still had lots of lovely clues. I had 8d as my favourite. I did have to scratch my head about the synonym in 20d and the drink in 7d as they did not immediately spring to mind.

    Many thanks to the setter and to Huntsman for the hints.

  27. Another nice Tuesday puzzle 😃 **/*** Favourites 14 & 28 across 👍 Thanks to AP and to the Huntsman very heavy rain here in the East 🌧

  29. Another pleasant puzzle, tougher than yesterday but still very friendly, with just a couple where I had a problem justifying the answer with the definition, 1d and 20d. It’s our 58th wedding anniversary today, but alas no celebratory dinner as I’m still struggling with gastroenteritis. Three weeks takes its toll but I plan on being able to enjoy a belated anniversary dinner later this month. Thanks to Mr Plumb for an enjoyable challenge and to Huntsman, particularly for 7d which was my LI.

    1. Try plain boiled rice and flat coca cola, the proper one not a supermarket own brand

      1. Thanks. Been on the BRAT per doctor, bananas, white rice, apple sauce and white toast. After 3 weeks I can’t even look at them any more. Will try the flat Coca Cola.

    2. Congratulations – another two years and you will get a card from the King!
      Get better soon

  30. A tad more difficult than yesterday, exactly as it should be and so enjoyable. My last corner was the NW, where I needed to use some ehelp word search to get going again. A lot of good stuff, 5a was an “oh, of course” moment, but 14a wins, I’ve got them outside my bedroom window and love their ears.
    Thank you Mr. Plumb, that was a pleasure, and Huntsman for some explanations, particularly 2d!

  32. String clues together, and see what you get:

    14a 5a 28a 26a 12a 15d 22a 2d into 20d 15d.

    2d 16d 1d 11a 23d at 1a.

    Enough nonsense. This crossword provided another excellent way to entertain and challenge the little grey cells. Thank you Prof P and Huntsman.

  34. Another great puzzle a little more challenging than yesterday but most enjoyable. Experiencing problems with my tablet so will thànk the setter and Huntsman,

  35. Good evening

    Nice to get back into the habit of crozzying; thankfully I’m being eased back in with both yesterday’s and today’s.

    Today’s was not without its challenges, particularly 26a and my COTD, 13d.

    Many thanks to our compiler (Mr P?) and to Huntsman.

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